Gap Detection as a Function of Stimulus Loudness for Listeners With and Without Hearing Loss

1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 1387-1394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peggy B. Nelson ◽  
Susan Dwyer Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Temporal Resolution ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Frequency Noise ◽  
Gap Detection ◽  
Detection Ability ◽  
High Frequency Noise ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Comfortable Loudness

Temporal resolution, or the ability to process rapidly changing stimuli, has been purported to be reduced in some listeners with hearing loss while being described as normal in others. Ensuring stimulus audibility by increasing stimulus levels results in near-normal temporal resolution abilities for many listeners with hearing loss, but may also result in uncomfortably loud stimulus levels. The current study was conducted to describe temporal resolution abilities of listeners with and without hearing loss as a function of stimulus loudness. The gap detection abilities of 8 listeners with normal hearing were compared with those of 8 listeners with mild to moderate hearing losses over a wide range of intensities using a 650-Hz wide high-frequency noise marker. At low intensities, listeners with hearing loss show poor gap detection ability. As intensity increases, most listeners’ performance improves and stabilizes near normal at high loudness and sensation levels. At comfortable loudness, gap detection abilities of listeners with hearing loss are less than at loud levels and are considerably poorer than normal.

Development of resistance to hearing loss from high frequency noise

1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 65-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malini Subramaniam ◽  
Pierre Campo ◽  
Donald Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Frequency Noise ◽  
High Frequency Noise ◽  
Development Of Resistance

Effects of Age and Hearing Loss on Gap Detection and the Precedence Effect

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 965-978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Roberts ◽  
Jennifer J. Lister
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Temporal Resolution ◽  
Noise Burst ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Precedence Effect ◽  
Gap Detection ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Hearing Sensitivity ◽  
Speech Understanding In Noise

Older listeners with normal-hearing sensitivity and impaired-hearing sensitivity often demonstrate poorer-than-normal performance on tasks of speech understanding in noise and reverberation. Deficits in temporal resolution and in the precedence effect may underlie this difficulty. Temporal resolution is often studied by means of a gap-detection paradigm. This task is similar to binaural fusion paradigms used to measure the precedence effect. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if within-channel (measured with monotic and diotic gap detection) or across-channel (measured with dichotic gap detection) temporal resolution is related to fusion (measured with lag-burst thresholds; LBTs) under dichotic, anechoic, and reverberant conditions. Gap-detection thresholds (GDTs) and LBTs were measured by means of noise-burst stimuli for 3 groups of listeners: young adults with normal-hearing sensitivity (YNH), older adults with normal-hearing sensitivity (ONH), and older adults with impaired-hearing sensitivity (OIH). The GDTs indicated that across-channel temporal resolution is poorer than within-channel temporal resolution and that the effects of age and hearing loss are dependent on condition. Results for the fusion task indicated higher LBTs in reverberation than for the dichotic and anechoic conditions, regardless of group, and no effect of age or hearing loss for the nonreverberant conditions. However, higher LBTs were observed in the reverberant condition for the ONH listeners. Further, there was a correlation between across-channel temporal resolution and fusion in reverberation. Gap detection and fusion may not necessarily reflect the same underlying processes; however, across-channel gap detection may influence fusion under certain conditions (i.e., in reverberation).

Tinnitus and Neural Activity

1983 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Salvi ◽  
William A. Ahroon
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Auditory Nerve ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Spontaneous Discharge ◽  
Frequency Noise ◽  
High Frequency Noise ◽  
Discharge Rates

The spontaneous discharge rates of auditory nerve fibers were measured in a group of normal chinchillas and in a group of chinchillas with high-frequency, noise-induced hearing loss. In contrast to normal units, the high-frequency units in the noise-exposed animals tended to have elevated spontaneous discharge rates, high thresholds, and a lack of two-tone inhibition. The change in spontaneous discharge rate across the distribution of nerve fibers is related to models of tinnitus and to human psychophysical data.

Effects of Age and Hearing Loss on Gap Detection and the Precedence Effect

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 482-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Lister ◽  
Richard A. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Temporal Resolution ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Precedence Effect ◽  
Gap Detection ◽  
Speech Understanding ◽  
Fixed Frequency ◽  
Hearing Sensitivity ◽  
Participant Group ◽  
Acoustic Environments

Deficits in temporal resolution and/or the precedence effect may underlie part of the speech understanding difficulties experienced by older listeners in degraded acoustic environments. In a previous investigation, R. Roberts and J. Lister (2004) identified a positive correlation between measures of temporal resolution and the precedence effect, specifically across-channel gap detection (as measured dichotically) and fusion. Across-channel gap detection may also be measured using frequency-disparate markers. Thus, the present investigation was designed to determine if the relation is specific to dichotic gap detection or may generalize to all types of across-channel gap detection. Gap-detection thresholds (GDTs) for fixed-frequency and frequency-disparate markers and lag-burst thresholds (LBTs) were measured for 3 groups of listeners: young with normal hearing sensitivity (YNH), older with normal hearing sensitivity (ONH), and older with sensorineural hearing loss (OIH). Also included were conditions of diotic and dichotic GDT. Largest GDTs were measured for the frequency-disparate markers, whereas largest LBTs were measured for the fixed-frequency markers. ONH and OIH listeners exhibited larger frequency-disparate and dichotic GDTs than YNH listeners. Listener age and hearing loss appeared to influence temporal resolution for frequency-disparate and dichotic stimuli, which is potentially important for the resolution of timing cues in speech. Age and hearing loss did not significantly influence fusion as measured by LBTs. Within each participant group, most GDTs and LBTs were positively, but not significantly, correlated. For all participants combined, across-channel GDTs and LBTs were positively and significantly correlated. This suggests that the 2 tasks may rely on a common across-channel temporal mechanism.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document